The Kissing Booth
by The Enduring Man-Child
Summary: When asked to take part in a "kissing booth" to raise funds for childhood diseases, Raven, attempting to preserve her 'tough girl' exterior, is reluctant to comply. Can a certain green shapeshifter convince her otherwise?
1. 1

Raven was very intimidating–even to her teammates–and she liked it that way. However, Robin was not usually intimidated by her. Not usually, but _now_ he was. She was standing in front of him with her arms crossed and a look of stark displeasure on her face. Oh yeah; Robin didn't show it, but he was intimidated.

"I can't believe you!" Raven growled at him. "I might have expected such a thing from one of the others, but not from you! I refuse to go through with this! And since you were the one who volunteered me, you can just be the one to tell them they'll have to make other plans!" And giving a look that would have turned any of the others into a whimpering anime chibi, she crossed her arms and turned her back to him with a "Hmph!"

Robin sighed and began to defend himself: "Look, Raven . . . Bruce--I mean, Mr. Wayne--asked me if the Titans could help out at the Wayne Foundation's spring carnival to raise funds for leukemia and childhood cancer. I didn't think _any_ of you would have any objections to that! And come on, you visit as many hospitals as the rest of us. Honestly," he added, his own irritation becoming evident, "I understand your need to keep up the 'tough girl' exterior, but I didn't think you'd consider this one of those times."

"But a **_kissing booth???_**" she all but screamed. "What in Azarath were you thinking???"

Starfire, who had been also been volunteered by Robin for kissing booth duty (and who had no objections), overcame her own fears of a ticked-off Raven to defend her best friend. "Yes, friend Raven! Robin only meant well. This is for a good cause, and you are so compassionate and charitable and good and . . . this is not working, is it?"

Raven merely stood with her arms crossed, continuing to give her "heads will roll" look. Finally she turned her back on her friends and muttered "I'll be in my room!" before stalking out, leaving four very disappointed (but at the same time relieved) Titans behind. Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg heaved sighs while Robin just continued to frown silently.

"The lady has issues," Cyborg said at last. "Wanna call the Wayne Foundation and tell 'em we've only got one kisser?"

"Not just yet," Robin answered. "I have a theory."

"You hear that, guys?" Beast Boy said. "Rob has a theory!"

"Yeah. And _you're_ gonna test it for me!"

"You hear that, guys? _I'm_ gonna . . . hey, no way, dude! She doesn't like me anyway, and you've got her ticked off already! No telling what she'll do to me if I . . . er, what was it you had in mind for me to do?"

Robin smiled sinisterly. "I want you to turn into a bug or something, sneak into her room, and spy on her!"

Beast Boy didn't hear anything after this, because he passed out.

**To Be Continued**


	2. 2

Ordinarily Beast Boy would have loved an excuse to spy on Raven. He had always had the ability to do so, but professional courtesy had always prevented him. Yet now that he had been asked to do so by the team leader, he felt strangely reluctant. But after a sigh and a shrug he felt he might as well get cracking. Still, he had to be careful. Raven was his friend, and quite dedicated to the cause of goodness, but there was no telling what she would do to him if she were to actually catch him eavesdropping on her in some vulnerable bug form. No, scratch that. He _did_ know what she would do. No wonder he'd never done this before!

Beast Boy first turned into a small house spider and slipped under Raven's door, then turned into a small and insignificant house fly. Not that she couldn't still get him in the air with her powers, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about her foot crashing on top of him. For some reason he couldn't get that image out of his mind. The first thing noticed after assuming his fly shape was that Raven was not moping about on her bed as he expected. No, she was still fuming, pacing back and forth talking to herself out loud. Gad, she was upset. _I'd better be as unobtrusive as possible, or she'll send me straight to her dad's place,_ he thought. And with this he perched on the dark ceiling and listened intently.

"What was Robin _thinking?_ He knows me better than anyone, and he not only volunteers me for some _pointless_ bimbo duty that he knows I can't stand, but he does it without consulting me! My peerless leader commits me to taking a whole day out of my life and spending it having a bunch of drooling geeks _kissing_ me all day! Great! I don't even like it when one of my friends _touches_ me and now . . . **_AAARRGH!!!_**"

A vein popped out on her forehead as a bulb in one of her creepy lamps exploded. Beast Boy swallowed hard (well, or the insectal equivalent) at this development. Right now, escaping notice so he could leave the room alive was a high priority.

"Oh, who am I kidding? No geeks are going to be drooling all over me. They'll be all over Starfire, and not just because she's so beautiful. No one's going to pay a cent to kiss me. They're all afraid of me and I don't blame them. After all . . . I'm a demon."

Now Raven suddenly assumed her usual quiet, stoic persona and sat down on her bed. And while Beast Boy should have welcomed this development, he wasn't even thinking about it. His dipteran heart was pierced by the words the goth girl continued to enunciate.

"Did Robin actually think that anyone would pay money to kiss _me?_ What's wrong with him? Doesn't he know what I am? Everyone else does. I'm not a person one kisses. I'm more dangerous than a thousand hydrogen bombs. I'm a menace, a time bomb waiting to go off at any moment, and apparently bird boy is the only one who doesn't realize it. Some use I'll be to the charity. I can see it now, every male this side of the Rockies lined up to kiss Starfire, and me, the epitome of darkness, sitting there like an idiot with not a single soul daring to even approach me. Thanks a lot, Robin!" And she sighed.  
"But I shouldn't blame him. It's not his fault I'm what I am. If I were a normal girl...of course he could expect me to do this for him. But apparently my friends are the only people that don't realize what they're living with. A good thing, too, or they'd probably kick me out for their own safety and sanity." And she buried her face in her hands, though if she was crying she showed no signs, and Beast Boy heard no weeping.

Speaking of which, our green fellow had forgotten all about his fear of a moment before as he heard Raven berate herself in this manner. _How can she possibly think all that about herself? Is that how she _really_ feels beneath that emotionless mask while the rest of us act like a bunch of silly kids--and me most of all?_

With his newfound knowledge of Raven's soul Beast Boy crawled as unobtrusively as possible (he didn't even want to fly lest his buzzing call attention to him) to that part of the ceiling near Raven's door. Then he turned again into the small spider, let himself down on a thread of silk, and crawled once more under the door back into the outside hall, where he resumed his true form.

_This is awful,_ he thought. _I've gotta talk to the others. We can't let Raven feel like this about herself._

And with fresh resolution, he returned to his friends in the main room of the Tower.


	3. 3

The four other Titans were seated around the dining room table (never used by any other than Raven before now, since the rest of them always ate on the couch in front of the TV) having a very serious discussion about Raven. They had never done this before, even though Raven's frequent absences would have made it quite easy to do. It was really remarkable that this was the very first time they were discussing her while she was alone in her room, but after hearing Beast Boy's report they all considered the situation quite serious.

"Poor Raven!" Starfire said, her eyes tearing in compassion for her friend. "I had no idea she was dealing with such negative emotions beneath her cool exterior! What shall we do to elevate her spirits?"

"Well, for one thing, I'm going to apologize for volunteering her for something without her permission," Robin said. "This whole business really is my fault. I should have known better, I suppose, but . . . I had no idea this would make her so depressed. Oh well, it's still a week away, and I can always tell the carnival organizers that she can't make it. I should apologize to _them_ as well, since I had no right to promise them something I had no right to assume I could deliver."

"I don't get it!" Cyborg said. "Why is she so down on herself? I mean, she has the largest fan club of any of us, she gets more fan mail than all the rest of us put together, she can't go out in public except to that dark cafe of hers at night because she'd be mobbed by admirers, she's mysterious, she's fascinating . . . "

"And she's _beautiful!_" Beast Boy put in enthusiastically, obviously without putting much thought into his outburst . . . at least, to judge by his red face after he realized what he had said.

"You are both right!" Starfire agreed. "Raven is indeed very beautiful, and very mysterious as well. It is most distressing to learn that she does not seem to realize her true worth."

"It's not so much that," Robin offered, "as that she realizes her destructive potential if she ever lost control of herself."

"But she'd never do that!" Beast Boy said. "I mean, she's so dedicated to fighting for good that she keeps total control on her dark side. I mean . . . look at us! We all trust her with our lives! I mean, we _live_ with her!"

Robin thought silently for a moment. Then he asked, "Do you two meaning Beast Boy and Cyborg have any ideas as to how to cheer her up? I mean, you've both been in her head."

"Yeah, and there's a lot more to the lady than we ever get to see," Cyborg answered.

Beast Boy just stared silently at nothing in particular, apparently deep in thought.

"Well, I'll call the Foundation office and tell them we've only got one volunteer for the kissing booth-that is, if that's okay with you, Star. I didn't consult you either before volunteering you."

"Oh yes, I would be happy to sell kisses to raise funds for children in illness and distress!" she beamed.

"That's good," Robin said, relieved, "but I think I'll let you handle your own bookings from now on. Making commitments on the behalf of others is a bad habit to get into." And with this he rose and left the table for the cell phone, silently bringing the meeting to an end.

Beast Boy remained seated, however, still apparently transfixed by something in his mind's eye.


	4. 4

_"Azarath Metrion Zinthos . . . _

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos . . .

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos . . . "

Raven had finally calmed down and gotten her emotions under control by meditating, and wouldn't you know it, there was a knock at the door.

_That better be Robin coming to apologize,_ she thought. _And if it's not, they can just knock till their knuckles are bloody._

"Raven? Can I come in? Please?"

Great. It was the green guy. _Better ignore him. Maybe he'll give up and go away._

_"Azarath Metrion Zinthos . . . _

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos . . .

"Azarath Metrion-"

"C'mon, Raven, I know you're in there! I just wanna talk to ya, for cryin' out loud!"

_Ack. Should've known it. Too good to be true._ "Go away, Beast Boy; I don't want to talk to you."

"Raven, I have something for you."

Now _this_ was something new.

"Nothing you could possibly have arouses my slightest interest, Beast Boy. Now go away; I won't ask you again."

_Ow,_ he thought, _never heard that from her before. She must be really ticked._ He looked down at the large mailbag he had lugged to her door. _No, she gets all this mail every single day and she sits in there and cries about how nobody cares about her and makes us all feel sorry for her. Well, these letters say people care about her, and the other Titans care about her, and _I_ care about her, so I'm not gonna let her keep runnin' herself down!_ "I'm not gonna go away, Raven. I told you I have something for you and I do, and I'm insulted that you'd think I'd lie to you. So if you're gonna do something horrible to me like zap me to Limbo or fry my chitlins then just go ahead, but I'm not goin' anywhere!"

Raven's eyes glowed a dangerous red. She had warned him and now he deserved what he was about to get. **_"Azarath Metrion . . . "_**

She couldn't do it. Not only to Beast Boy, but to herself. She couldn't let her anger take control of her and make her into the monster she so despised.

Darn him. Darn him all to heck!

Beast Boy had his eyes scrunched up awaiting his inevitable doom when he heard the sound of Raven's door sliding open.

"What do you want?" She had opened the door only enough to show half of her face.

"Here's your mail from today," Beast Boy said, with a little more bravery and annoyance than he thought he was capable of with an angry Raven.

Raven glanced down at the mail bag, unimpressed. "So?"

"Raven, this is your _fan mail_. You know, like you get every single day? More than all the rest of us? Even more than Starfire? Even more than _me?_"

"So I get a lot of junk mail. So what? Lots of people do."

"This is _not_ junk mail!" Beast Boy shouted, his aggravation now cancelling out any fear of Raven he may have had. "Look at this!" He began reaching into the bag and retrieving handfuls of letters, which he tossed haphazardly on the floor in front of Raven's door. "A lot of people took some time out of their day to write to you and tell you how much they love you! Don't you get it? _Look at this stuff!_ Some of these things have got to be twenty pages long! Look at the stamps people had to buy to send it! Look!"

Raven was thoroughly puzzled now. Fortunately for Beast Boy, she still had no inkling that he had been listening in on her bout of self-pity, so all she saw was her wildest, most unpredictable teammate tossing paper all over the hallway floor and screaming about something that seemed totally out of character for him.

"Honestly, do you ever read any of this stuff? What do you do with it? I mean, what do you do with it? I didn't see any when I was . . . "

Raven's eyebrow twitched dangerously. Oops.

"You know, when Cy and I went into your room that time? You already got enough of this stuff to fill every nook and corner of your room but I didn't see a single letter. Don't you appreciate how much these people think of you? Haven't you ever written any of them back? Come on, the rest of us are just as busy as you are, but we try to answer as many of our fan letters as we can! And you get more than any of us and instead of telling your fans how much you appreciate them you sit in your room and . . . "

Raven's eyebrow suddenly twitched again.

Oops. That was close.

"Look, Raven . . . " Better to just go on and keep her engaged rather than allow her to think too much about what he had just said. " . . . I'm going now, but I'm leaving this mail. It's yours and you really should read it. But of course if you're determined not to, there isn't anything I can do about it." And with that he kept his word, turning his back and walking away from Raven, which is something he seldom, if ever, did. Sure, he'd run for his life from her a few times, but this . . . !

Raven looked after him for a few minutes, then looked down at the large and thoroughly stuffed mail bag. Swallowing her anxiety, she brought it inside, sat down on her bed, and with trembling hands ripped open one of the letters.

_"Dear Raven: I am a senior at Jump City High. I'm popular, I get good grades, I'm considered beautiful, and I'm the captain of the cheerleading squad. But I just wanted to tell you that I'd trade all of this to be you for just one day. I mean, I yell 'rah rah rah' and you save lives every day! It sort of makes me ashamed . . . "_

Hmmm. Interesting.

She opened another.

_"Dear Ms. Raven: I don't know how many fan letters you get from ministers, but I wanted to let you know that whatever darkness is troubling you, I believe you are doing the Lord's work. I doubt if I will ever touch as many lives or inflict as much damage on the forces of darkness and evil as you already have in your young life . . . "_

Woah. That was . . . unexpected.

Time for another!

_"Hi miss raven! How are you? I am 5. You look so sad. I donnt want you to be sad eny more would you like to come to my hous and play with me . . . " _

"Miss Raven: I am one of those ugly, dorky guys at the high school who doesn't have many friends. In fact, I doubt if I have even one. I certainly don't have any girlfriends, but when I get teased about it I sometimes tell people that I do. And . . . I just wanted you to know that if I ever could have a girlfriend I'd want her to be just like you. In fact, you're the most beautiful girl I have ever seen (I've seen your picture). You blow that pitiful Starfire girl clean out of the water! Wow! . . . "

"My Dear Young Lady: I know very little about super heroes, but as I understand it some great darkness clutches at you. I don't know if my words can be of any help to you, but many years ago when I was a young woman-and I am a very old woman now-I had a beautiful young daughter who was the light of my life. But I am sad to say that when she was about your age she died of some dreadful disease that isn't considered that dreadful any more, and it seems so pointless. But anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you are everything I could ever have hoped my dear daughter to be. Thank you for watching over us. . . . "

What was this in Raven's eye?

And so Raven continued reading, losing all track of time. When she was interrupted by another knock on the door, she noticed an hour and a half had passed.

Great. She didn't need to let Beast Boy see her in this shape, especially after reading the fan mail he had pushed her into reading.

"Raven? You in there? It's me. I came . . . I came to apologize."

It wasn't Beast Boy. It was Robin.

Raven sniffled softly and called out in a voice she hoped was loud enough for him to hear, "No, Robin. You don't have anything to apologize for. I'm the one who's apologizing to you."


	5. 5

Raven couldn't believe that she was actually _enjoying_ this. In fact, she was enjoying it so much that she was having some difficulty keeping her "dark lady" persona and a smile off her face.

She and Starfire were in kissing booths right across from each other at the charity carnival, and while Starfire's line was (as was to be expected) quite long, Raven's was longer still. And by the attitude of her "clients," she was indeed considered quite an intriguing "babe" by the local male population-and to judge by their nervousness, intimidating as well. She was very careful to allay their fears, asking each his name, thanking him for contributing to the cause, and while not smiling, behaving in a manner that put them at ease. And it was indeed the thrill of a lifetime to get to kiss the famous and enigmatic Raven, even if one had to pay.

Sometimes when an especially dorky or uncomfortable client took his place with her she would wonder if perhaps he was one of the shy, unattached boys who had taken time to write to her and tell her they would prefer her to any girl they knew. She was tempted to give these boys an extra kiss for free to show them that they were worth something and deserved someone's attention without having to pay for it; the only reason she did not do this was that it would not have been fair to the other customers.

Raven took a spare moment to glance over at Starfire, whose enjoyment was far more obvious, though she was careful not to allow her enthusiasm to embarrass any of the boys and young men who had come for this special treat. Starfire was intimidating in a very different way from Raven, and when she saw some less than handsome boys hanging around without getting in line, she smiled and waved at them to indicate they too were welcome and had nothing to fear. Star really was a good soul.

Of course, so was she herself, as she continued to exchange her own kisses for charity. But she liked to think that both she and Starfire were doing more than just raising money, important as that was, and giving homely guys an unusually thrilling experience. She liked to think that they were helping some of these people to gain a little confidence in themselves and not to feel so ugly or unlovable. They deserved it . . . they were certainly doing this for her!

And so the time passed and the embarrassment and other negative emotions she feared didn't even show up. Eventually evening drew on and Raven noticed that Starfire had actually finished kissing all her customers (Robin was the last) while she still had a little ways to go. But eventually the line came to an end and she had managed to contribute to an important cause while raising the spirits of some people who, like her, occasionally needed it. Finally the last person took his place in front of her. It was Beast Boy.

"Is my dollar as good as everyone else's for a kiss?" he asked her, a little uncertainly.

"Of course," she answered him flatly, having resumed her usual unreadable expression. This disappointed Beast Boy, as he was really looking forward to receiving a kiss from his secret crush while he could get away with it. At least she could give him the same friendly expression and voice she did everyone else! Oh well. Beast Boy placed his dollar in the jar and received his unemotional kiss. Great.

As he was about to leave the booth, Raven reached out and took his arm. "Wait."

"Huh?" he asked.

"That kiss was for your dollar, but you have some credit built up," she said. She had dropped her cold demeanor, but Beast Boy couldn't tell what precisely had taken its place. "You see, you really helped me the other night when I was feeling down and sorry for myself . . . so, I figure I owe you." And before Beast Boy could react she kissed him again, though there wasn't that much difference between it and the one he had paid for.

"So . . . now we're even?" he asked unsurely.

"Yes," she said in her usual tone, "all debts are now paid." She picked up the jar with the money in it and exited the booth from the back.

Beast Boy slumped from the disappointment. His head bowed toward the ground as he prepared to leave. "Oh well. See you back at the tower."

"Wait."

He looked up again. Raven was now in front of the booth. She sat the jar back down on the counter and again dropped her cowl from around her face. "One kiss was paid for. The second I owed you. And this . . . " she said, drawing closer, " . . . is my gift to you, because I want you to have it." And now the iciness was gone from her voice and her stoic mask dropped away to reveal friendship, affection, and gratitude as she enveloped him in her arms and gave him the kiss he had dreamed of for so long. He was still frozen with glazed eyes when she finished. Again she picked up the money jar and leaned into his ear. "See you back at the tower, my friend," she whispered. And she took the money and was gone.

"Well Titans, it was a bit unconventional, but I'd call it a successful mission," Robin smiled at his teammates. And it must have been very successful, since Bruce Wayne himself had called to thank them for helping to make the carnival a success.

"I was very glad to help!" Starfire beamed, aware even in her naivety that she had not only aided children in need but had helped to brighten the lives and raise the self-esteem of some young men who needed it.

All of them looked to Raven, who was now hidden behind one of her gigantic tomes and back to her usual demeanor. "What?" she asked them when she became aware of their attention.

"Um . . . uh . . . well, we were just wondering if you enjoyed it!" Beast Boy finally got the courage to say.

She gave him her usual inscrutable stare. "Well, I survived. It's not something I'd want to do every day, though," she confessed.

Beast Boy looked dejected, and the countenances of his teammates fell as well.

"Oh well. I'm going to my room," Raven announced, standing up with her gigantic book. "I'll be in there if you should need me for any reason."

"Meditating?" Robin asked.

"No," Raven said. Then she turned to Beast Boy and gave him a small smile. "I'm way behind on answering my mail."

Beast Boy smiled too.

**The End**


End file.
